Reap the benefits of increased renovation rates

You might not think it, but increasing renovation rates is an effective way to encourage economic growth and increase job availability.

Fun fact: Did you know that every €1 million invested in renovation can be expected to support approximately 19 jobs in the construction sector (Euroace, 2012)? As such, by scaling up to a large-scale project of €100 million, 1,900 jobs could be created as a result. By providing new projects that require considerable time and work to complete, a significant level of job security is ensured for the employees involved.

And these are just the jobs that renovation is directly responsible for creating.

If you turn your sights towards how renovation initiatives can be combined with government policies or other relevant initiatives, you might observe that investments in renovation can generate even more jobs by offering work to marginalised groups such as jobless youths, thus leading to less unemployment in the community.

For example, a study in Denmark noted that 14 large projects in the social housing sector created 110 jobs, 70 educational internships, 80 wage-subsidised jobs and 180 company internships for local citizens (Danish Centre for Development of Social Housing, 2018).

Additionally, an impact assessment of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive shows that a simple increase in renovation rates by 1.0%-point to 1.6% for residential buildings, and 1.7% for nonresidential, would grow annual economic activity by €8-12 billion towards 2030 (EU Commission, 2016).

These improvements to the economy are always valuable, regardless of whether the current economic climate is on the rise or on the decline. Furthermore, renovation projects deliver visible results to taxpayers, providing comfort that money is being used judiciously to give back to the community.

Even more comfortable is the contemporary living spaces that renovated buildings give us, furnishing us with a place worth calling home. After all, we’re all striving towards the same goal: a better quality of life. So feel good about renovating your home, as you are also contributing to the economy.

Source(s):

<sup>1. Euroace, 2012
2. Danish Centre for Development of Social Housing, 2018
3. EU Commission, 2016</sup>